ZA Furries

Sooooo... I just took off and threw away my attempt at papier maché horns. It wasn't working. They just wouldn't dry. Like at all. I'll try something else. Back to square one on that.

I made the internal structure for the foot-hooves and started fleshing them out with a cardboard base, looks pretty good so far. Still need to either find shoes I can sacrifice or a method of attaching any shoe. I'm leaning towards the latter.

Finger caps are smoothed. Just need to make full-arm gloves, varnish the finger caps and stick them on, and make a fastening between the shoulders, and the hand-hooves will be done.

I haven't touched the tail since I took it off after the meet.

Have you thought about using Das clay? You could shape it around a paper or foam base and bake them in your oven.

I've thought about clay, but most I've looked at are way too heavy. A cosplay page recommended Bostik crazy clay, which is apparently light and air-drying.

What about using real cow horns? Assuming you don't have any qualms against using real animal parts, they shouldn't be too hard to find.

I've actually thought of that, and no I'm not averse to using them. I eat beef and wear leather after all, so it would be hypocritical of me.

The only horns I can find here are very wide-based nguni horns, and they are usually sold single, not in matching pairs. I can look around for thinner ones, but I doubt an unpolished matching pair would be easy to find or cheap.

It also defeat both purposes of this project: being 100% DIY and as cheap as possible.

Well whaddayaknow, I stand corrected on both accounts:
http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/19012784 ... _Horn.html
I asked the seller if they could try and find a matching pair with as narrow a base as possible, and they're totally cool with it.

I love the Internet.

I thought it might be time to make a tally of all my expenses so far.

General supplies and equipment
Glue gun: R120
Glue sticks: R25 x 2 = R50
Foam: R0 (scrap, still have tons)
Clay: R0 (flour, salt, water)
Gutter mesh: R65 (1m, plenty left)
Fur: R150 x 3m = R450
Heavy-duty thread: R30
Velcro: R15
Paint: R15
Matte clear lacquer spray: R60

Head
Eye materials: R0 (soft drink bottle + old pair of stockings)
Horns: R100 x 2 = R200 (speculative, might do something else)
Hair: R80 x 2 = R160

Hands
Finger caps: R0 (originally clay, going to re-do them)

Feet
PVC pipe: R0 (scrap)
Sheet wood: R0 (scrap)

Tail
Copper brazing rod: R0 (scrap)
Stuffing: R35 (still lots left)

That's pretty much it, with a grand total of R1000 (excluding the horns) so far. I approximated what I couldn't remember exactly to the nearest 5 to reach a nice round total.

I think that's pretty good, and I have all the necessary materials to make a full suit now. Barring a disaster I'm estimating that the final total should be around R1500.

Good going, Leeward. Let's see how the final product turns out.

Today I spent the whole day on this...

Stocked up on miscellaneous haberdashery.
Found some polystyrene to make new horns.
Cut out the glove pattern.
Painted the nose.
Made new finger caps out of solid wood: cut some blocks, shaped them on the vertical sander, drilled/dremelled in the finger holes.

In the process I have pricked, painted, cut, scraped, sanded, burned, drilled and dremelled the Dickens out of my fingers too, and enjoyed every minute of it.

What can I say, DIY has its dangers.

Yesterday I sewed one of the gloves and I must say, it looks pretty awesome. Pics when done, I promise. Just a bit difficult since my "new" phone's camera is stuffed.

paws how lovely let me know when I may come over and tickle them .

I applied a first coat of paint on the finger caps this morning. Very excited to finish the hands.

I hope to be finished with the head by the end of August... because of reasons.

Those look awesome! (And kinda scary, too.)

Wow this looks scary. Great job thought on the hands. Please dont come near me in the dark with those. I am sure I will get a hard attack or scream

Thanks guys!
LOL I was going for cute, but I guess without the cow head for context they do kind of look like demon claws. Hopefully they'll be less scary with the rest of the costume.

Today I drew the horns pattern on the foam block and had my lovely boyfriend cut it out on the bandsaw. I'll do the rest of the carving by hand with an electric knife and scissors.

I also drew all the sewing patterns: arm-sleeves, body tube, and pants. I also took all my measurements so that I can make them skin-tight.

I applied a second coat of lacquer to the nose today; nothing else, I was only passing through the workshop on my way home from work. Tomorrow I'll work on the horns base and hopefully get started on the tape dummy.

Now with horns, carved out of foam: 5 meters of masking tape later:

Ho-Lee Hell, is that freaky or what. I see the antagonist of an up and coming slasher franchise: Mad Cow.

Sev wrote:Ho-Lee Hell, is that freaky or what. I see the antagonist of an up and coming slasher franchise: Mad Cow.

You mean you don't know about cows attacking and killing people in Europe? Three deaths in five attacks.
http://www.thelocal.at/20150804/farmer- ... -carinthia

It's only freaky because of the exposed teeth (there will be a lower lip) and lack of fur (kinda obvious what'll happen there).

I also applied a coat of paint to the horns and started re-doing the tongue out of craft foam.

And yeah, as the article says: "Generally speaking, cows are even-tempered, mild creatures. Attacks by cows are rare but do occur, especially when the herd contains calves."

That's what they want you to think...

I'm thinking I should redo the eyes... opinions?

Looking real good Lee
Question: How is the weight of the horns? I do know some suiters have issues with horns or accessories on the top of the head weighing them down quite a bit. I know it's made of foam but even foam and paint can add significant weight.

Leeward wrote:I'm thinking I should redo the eyes... opinions?

The eyes to a look a bit shall I say, dull not meant in a bad way. Maybe if you paint the Irises with a more vibrant colour to get that eye to really stand out. I found using fabric paint worked well on the Buckram.

YoteFox wrote:Looking real good Lee
Question: How is the weight of the horns? I do know some suiters have issues with horns or accessories on the top of the head weighing them down quite a bit. I know it's made of foam but even foam and paint can add significant weight.

The foam and masking tape alone are very light, I hardly notice the difference. I haven't tried it on since I started painting, but I don't think it'll be that much more. How much can a "shell" of paint and lacquer weigh anyway?

YoteFox wrote:

Leeward wrote:I'm thinking I should redo the eyes... opinions?

The eyes to a look a bit shall I say, dull not meant in a bad way. Maybe if you paint the Irises with a more vibrant colour to get that eye to really stand out. I found using fabric paint worked well on the Buckram.

I'm thinking of making them a little bigger as well, to improve the vision. With this design, you can only see through the iris and pupil, not the sclera.

Leeward wrote:

YoteFox wrote:Looking real good Lee
Question: How is the weight of the horns? I do know some suiters have issues with horns or accessories on the top of the head weighing them down quite a bit. I know it's made of foam but even foam and paint can add significant weight.

The foam and masking tape alone are very light, I hardly notice the difference. I haven't tried it on since I started painting, but I don't think it'll be that much more. How much can a "shell" of paint and lacquer weigh anyway?

Couldn't weigh that much really, I just know from experience that any significant unbalanced weight on the head can be a real annoyance. However as you said it's a shell over foam so it's weight shouldn't be significant for your neck muscles. In essence I think the ears on my head weighs more than your horns. lol.

Leeward wrote:

YoteFox wrote:

Leeward wrote:I'm thinking I should redo the eyes... opinions?

The eyes to a look a bit shall I say, dull not meant in a bad way. Maybe if you paint the Irises with a more vibrant colour to get that eye to really stand out. I found using fabric paint worked well on the Buckram.

I'm thinking of making them a little bigger as well, to improve the vision. With this design, you can only see through the iris and pupil, not the sclera.

I do agree that they need to be a bit bigger, to make Lee look more friendly and approachable. The eyes says allot and should be given allot of detail in my opinion. Check out my eyes on my head, they are large enough to have a decent vision but not too large as to make it look ridiculous well atleast in my opinion. I can share with you my technique of making the eyes if you wish so, maybe you can do your own thing from that.

Well I just had to remove all the masking tape, because I had the brilliant idea of smoothing it up with wood glue, which was a disaster. The masking tape I used was crappy quality anyway. I got some better stuff to do it again, and more paint.

Thanks Yote, but I think I'd rather use my design, as it's got a 3-D effect that toony eyes don't have, which I'm really keen on.

Lee, I'm not sure of the construction on your eyes, but look up 'follow me eyes' - basically they are inset with a rim and an edge and it makes them look much more real and dynamic.

Also great job on the [hanfhooves/hoofpaws/glovepaws/hoofgloves]! They look really nice